Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tomorrow is the last day to register as a member of the class action lawsuit against TransUnion. Like all class action suits, you don't get cash benefits. But, for once, you actually get something worthwhile. You can choose to get 9-month free credit monitoring (including credit score). Sign up here: https://www.listclassaction.com/

If you had a credit card between January 1, 1987 to May 28, 2008, you qualify. What are you waiting for?

Hands down they win. At least in the past 8 years they've been the top dogs while the democrats have constantly had their asses handed to them. Why are republicans better politicians? Just a look at the past 8 years of Bush and all the countless scandals (both financial and moral), the mismanagement, the monumental failures in leadership, the direction the country is heading, our educational system that creates students that can't compete internationally, our moribund infrastructure, our failure to respond to natural disasters etc. Add all that up and a stranger from Mars would think this election shouldn't even be close. But it's a dead heat.

Also, each time there's a national debate the GOP somehow manages to box the DNC into a bad corner. It's like watching a bad movie where the clueless good guy keeps getting beat by the brilliant but morally bankrupt bad guy. The latest is Bush trying to stick us with a $700 billion bill for wall street excess under the guise of these institutions are "too big to fail". So now the dems are being pressured to quickly sign this bill without any restrictions or oversight. Just give them a blank check for $700 billion. The last time we signed a bill in a rush, we got the Patriot Act. If these institutions were indeed too big to fail, where was the govt oversight when they were leveraging themselves to the hilt on bad mortgages? Where was the govt when executives of failed companies are making ginormous sums of money in golden parachutes?

But alas, the democrats are a bunch of morons who will once again wilt in the face of GOP pressure.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A day after the biggest bankruptcy filing in US history, Bush says it's an "adjustment"! For real? I know the president is supposed to have a calming influence but still calling the biggest bankruptcy in the nation's history an "adjustment" is taking understatement to a new level.

"The fundamentals of our economy are struggling..." (or something to that effect),

I guess his advisers don't read the early morning papers. Then he came on The Today Show to claim that by "fundamentals of our economy" he was referring to "American workers". What a load of bull. Even if that were true, how much more must American workers suffer before we get some substantial relief? Before we get health care that's better than going across to Mexico for surgery? Bear Stearns must not be allowed to go under but it's ok for millions of Americans to lose their homes due to the same reckless greed on Wall Street. Fannie and Freddie get govt cheese but it's too good for American workers. Pure bull!

Unfortunately, Matt didn't press McCain on why he changed his tone 3 hours after. I am sure those who claim Palin has foreign policy experience because "she lives close to Russia" will find that lame explanation plausible.

If Americans elect McCain for a 3rd Bush term...well the statement "you get the govt you deserve" will never be truer. Final words: if you are a republican and you are not rich, you are a fool. It's really that simple! Because you are trading

Monday, September 08, 2008

By now, you've probably downloaded, installed and been underwhelmed by Google's Chrome. And, unless you are a minimalist, you are wondering to yourself "what's all the hoopla about?" I agree with you. The current Chrome browser is nothing to get excited about. At least not for the regular user. It's less configurable than Firefox, doesn't support plug-ins and looks plainer than Jane.

Personally, I think Google is going to struggle mightily with Chrome. Why? Because they don't have any track record of successful non-webbased software. Google search, gmail, calendar all live on the web. And if you are a software developer, you know developing for the web is several orders of magnitude easier than developing for the desktop. For one, you only have to worry about very limited varianbles on the web: everybody has a browser which sorts of acts as an abstraction over the very complicated and different hardware of each computer. In fact, the only question is does my user have javascript and/or cookies turned on? However, when you come to the desktop, it's a whole different ball game. People have vastly different hardware + software combinations.

And all that's before you come to security! So yeah I think Google is going to struggle with Chrome. Will they get it right? I think so but who knows? Do you use Google Talk?